Dems hesitant to help Boehner avoid shutdown

There are more rumors of a conservative bid to oust Boehner, and the big debate over whether a government shutdown should be on the table in the latest spending skirmish with President Obama. I am of course talking about the videos that have recently been released showing Planned Parenthood employees and management discussing fetal “extractions” and negotiations to sell this “tissue” to the highest bidder for testing.

Congress’ Republican leaders face stark tests as they fight to keep the government open past month’s end, amid fears a shutdown could imperil their party’s White House ambitions. The sticking point revolves around annual funding that goes to Planned Parenthood, the abortion rights organization that conservatives are vowing to strip of federal money.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell must contend with the ambitions of several GOP presidential candidates. The two men are scheduled to meet privately before the pope addresses a special joint session of Congress and potentially 100,000 people who are expected to crowd the National Mall for a chance to see the pope when he appears on a Capitol balcony.

Which is why last week, I found myself and a delegation of nine other pastors boarding a van and driving eight hours to our nation’s capital to speak with the third most powerful politician in the United States about defunding Planned Parenthood. “Shutting down the government is not in our political interest, it will undermine the Republican brand and it will hurt whoever the Republican nominee is in November”.

Becerra, who chairs the House Democratic Caucus, said he is considering voting against a short-term funding bill, even if it doesn’t include any language to defund Planned Parenthood.

House Republican leaders have shifted their focus to budget reconciliation, which only requires a simple majority for passage in the Senate. Two years ago, a 16-day shutdown preceded the year-end budget deal. They reject such logic as capitulation.

But when Hoyer was pressed on whether House Democrats would support Boehner if conservatives moved to try and out him with a vote on the floor, the Maryland Democrat wanted no part of the messy internal GOP fight.

The unrest is not just among the 30 to 40 tea partyers who want to push the Planned Parenthood issue to the brink of a shutdown. Boehner aides said they were not aware of any specific guidelines from the Vatican about how to cover the pope on social media, but are generally cognizant of Francis’ dedication to transparency and engagement via his own Twitter handle, @Pontifex.

The divide has sparked elevated scrutiny of Boehner’s leadership tactics, evoking renewed threats from conservatives to undermine his speakership this fall if he pivots against their defund tactics. Boehner chose to ignore it, telling reporters it was “no big deal”. But it could require the cooperation of Democrats, making the outcome impossible to predict and ensuring great intrigue.

More than 20 conservatives refused to back Boehner earlier this year and are planning to hold a leadership vote in the days to come, after Pope Francis addresses Congress. “If you keep doing that, you’re going to have a perpetual loser”. Among the most outspoken are Reps.

I guess you could say I had accepted abortion as the “new normal” since so many efforts to stop it over the years have been thwarted.

“I think it is a conversation that we ought to have with our leadership”, said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois.